1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 1:00 PM CST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 200 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 2001 MCV CONTS TO SPIN ACRS SE KS WITH SHWRS/FEW TSTMS SPINNING ARND SYSTM INTO CNTRL MO. AVN AND ETA VERY CLOSE AT MIDN WITH MCV ALG THE MO-AR BDR JUST W OF THE BOOTHEEL. ANTHR SGNFNT TROF FCST TO DIG OUT OF ERN KS ON SUN. AVN FAIRLY KAHNSISTENT WITH PREV RUN IN FCSTG STRNG THETA-E ADVCTN/MSTR CNVGC ACRS N CNTRL MO BY SUN NOON AT 850. STRNG COLD FNT FCST BY AVN TO PLOW ACRS THE RGN BY NOON MON AS WE SWITCH FM JUN WX TO APR WX. MAV POPS LOOK RNSBL AND WILL FOLLOW FAIRLY CLOSE. RISE/FALL COUPLET AT SFC FM MSAS SUGGSTS SFC LOW WILL MOVE ACRS NRN AR/SE MO DURG THE AFTN. WK COLD FNT WILL BE PULLED DWN ACRS AREA AS LOW MOVES OUT TO THE NE. WILL KEEP SCT POPS ACRS MST OF AREA THIS EVE EXCPT NE PTN OF CWA. IN THE EXTNDD, THE MRF AND UK ARE SMLR FOR MON MRNG AT H5 WITH CLOSE LOW OVR THE UPR MIDWEST. OLD ECMWF FCST IS LAGGING BHND AND OUT OF SYNC. MRF AND UK MAINTAIN SMLR PTRN BY WED MRNG WITH CLOSED LOW OVR WI OR MI AND 12Z AVN UPDATE ALSO SMLR. MOTHER NATURE IS MAKING UP FOR OUR RECORD HI THE OTHR DAY. .STL...NONE
ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095-097>102-MOZ018-019-026-027- 034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-190000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 1145 AM CDT FRI MAY 18 2001 THREAT: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE REGION. WHEN: THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SITUATION: A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI THIS EVENING. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED.
ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095-097>102-MOZ018-019-026-027- 034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-190200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 320 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 2001 THREAT: THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF A JEFFERSON CITY TO ALTON TO VANDALIA ILLINOIS LINE. WHEN: LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SITUATION: AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS MISSOURI AND ILLINOIS THIS EVENING. AS IT DOES...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXEPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE WARM AND UNSTABLE AIR. A FEW OF THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE WITH THE PRIMARY THREAT BEING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. BRITT
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 156 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:21 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The Reynolds County Sheriff reported a brief tornado north of Ellington. The tornado hit a wooded area and uprooted several trees.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 2001Warnings in Missouri, May 2001
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5244768.